55- People at Work

You know sometimes you don't fully appreciate the people you work with. I work in two different offices and I continue to be amazed by the skill and professionalism of my co-workers. So often you see poor customer service or bad attitudes when you are out eating dinner, shopping or even driving on the highway (especially during rush hour).

Too often at work you look for the areas to correct someone's behavior or attitude instead of praising it. Tony Robbins said that people do things for one of two reasons to gain pleasure or avoid pain. He noted that studies showed that avoiding pain was a bigger driving force than obtaining pleasure. While I was in the military, the only thing that ever got noticed was when it was being done wrong. It was expected to always be correct- and when it wasn't there was plenty of yelling or cursing until it got done correctly... clearly that was an example of avoiding pain.

I find that praising good behavior, work ethics or good outcomes goes much further than the yelling and screaming method... at least for me when I am working with adults. I believe in that adage: It is easier to catch flies with honey rather than vinegar.

Suffice it to say that I had a good week in the office. Thanks in no small part to our patients and great staff who makes all of it possible.